wordy

wordy
—wordily, adv. —wordiness, n.
/werr"dee/, adj., wordier, wordiest.
1. characterized by or given to the use of many, or too many, words; verbose: She grew impatient at his wordy reply.
2. pertaining to or consisting of words; verbal.
[bef. 1100; ME; OE wordig. See WORD, -Y1]
Syn. 1. diffuse, talkative, loquacious, voluble. WORDY, PROLIX, REDUNDANT, PLEONASTIC all mean using more words than necessary to convey a desired meaning. WORDY, the broadest and least specific of these terms, may, in addition to indicating an excess of words, suggest a garrulousness or loquaciousness: a wordy, gossipy account of a simple incident. PROLIX refers to speech or writing extended to great and tedious length with inconsequential details: a prolix style that tells you more than you need or want to know.
REDUNDANT and PLEONASTIC both refer to unnecessary repetition of language. REDUNDANT has also a generalized sense of "excessive" or "no longer needed": the dismissal of redundant employees. In describing language, it most often refers to overelaboration through the use of expressions that repeat the sense of other expressions in a passage: a redundant text crammed with amplifications of the obvious. PLEONASTIC, usually a technical term, refers most often to expressions that repeat something that has been said before: "A true fact" and "a free gift" are pleonastic expressions.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Wordy — Word y, a. [Compar. {Wordier}; superl. {Wordiest}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Of or pertaining to words; consisting of words; verbal; as, a wordy war. Cowper. [1913 Webster] 2. Using many words; verbose; as, a wordy speaker. [1913 Webster] 3. Containing… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wordy — wordy, verbose, prolix, diffuse, redundant can all mean using or marked by the use of more words than are necessary to express the thought. Wordy often carries no further implications, though it may suggest garrulousness or loquacity when the… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • wordy — [wʉr′dē] adj. wordier, wordiest 1. of words; verbal 2. containing or using many or too many words; verbose wordily adv. wordiness n. SYN. WORDY is the general word implying the use of more words in speaking or writing than are necessary for… …   English World dictionary

  • wordy — index flatulent, loquacious, profuse, prolific, prolix, redundant, turgid, voluble Burton s Legal Thesaurus …   Law dictionary

  • wordy — O.E. wordig verbose; see WORD (Cf. word) + Y (Cf. y) (2) …   Etymology dictionary

  • wordy — [adj] talkative bombastic, chatty*, diffuse, discursive, flatulent, gabby*, garrulous, inflated, lengthy, long winded, loquacious, palaverous, pleonastic, prolix, rambling, redundant, rhetorical, tedious, turgid, verbose, voluble, windy*; concept …   New thesaurus

  • wordy — ► ADJECTIVE (wordier, wordiest) ▪ using or expressed in too many words. DERIVATIVES wordily adverb wordiness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • wordy — adjective (wordier; est) Date: 12th century 1. using or containing many and usually too many words 2. of or relating to words ; verbal • wordily adverb • wordiness noun Synonyms: wordy …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • wordy — [[t]wɜ͟ː(r)di[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe a person s speech or something that they write as wordy, you disapprove of the fact that they use too many words, especially words which are very long, formal, or literary. The chapter… …   English dictionary

  • wordy — un·wordy; wordy; …   English syllables

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